Let's consider the dinghy mounting details...
I agree with you completely regarding a choice of Garhauser for your davits. I got mine from them as well although there were other high quality suppliers too.
In your post above your said ".....That will provide a wider more stable foot print and help match the dink hoist points,...." This statement has me concerned.
One of the not-so-obvious mounting requirements is to have the tips of the arms inside of the dinghy lift points. That is, to put it another way, the distance between the davit hoist points should be less than the distance between the dinghy attachment points. Here is why.....
If the hoist points and the dinghy attachment points are equal in distance apart, four lines drawn between the hoist points, the hoist to dinghy attachment points, and between the dinghy attachment points forms a rectangle. Because the hoist lines can move athwart-ships, the dinghy will be allowed to move also from port to stbd. The movement is the same as a parallelogram where the corners can change from 90 degrees to a value either more or less. A dinghy tied in this manner will be very difficult to secure from sideways movement. ANY movement of the dinghy will offer the possibility of chafe and damage.
By making the distance between the ends of the davit arms less than the attachment points of the dinghy, the parallelogram is transformed into a trapezoid shape. As your boat heels, the lifting line closest to the water will become more vertical and the weight of the dinghy will not tend to cause it to move toward the down side (athwart-ships). Quite the opposite will occur if the distances are equal because the lifting lines will both become tilted in the same direction and that will promote movement of the dinghy toward the water- athwart-ship movement.
In addition, if the lifting lines are both vertical (due to equal distances between the davit arms and the dinghy lift attachment points), these lines are likely to chafe on the outboard motor or the inside of the dinghy tubes. Take a look at the first two pictures below. This shows the lift lines both vertical. Notice how close they are to the transom and to the bow tubes. An outboard motor would definitely be in the way and the bow tube are in danger of being chafed.
To solve this problem I tried a number of different tying techniques including tying a line between the dinghy attachment points and then attaching the lift lines to that line. Nothing that I tried worked. So I went back to Mike at Garhauser and explained the problem and bought a few more parts- a couple of pole clamps, eight eye ends, a short piece of 1" tubing, and a handful of fasteners to attach everything.
What I did was to cut the two braces that connect between the arms that held them fixed. I put in end eyes on both ends of the braces and adjusted the distance between the davit arms to be about 10-12" less than the dinghy attachment points. However since I now had pivots on each end of the braces, I had to add an additional brace in the middle connecting the two athwart-ship braces. See the next pictures below.
Now I the configuration that will discourage the dinghy from moving athwart-ships when heeled and the lift lines are away from the outboard motor and the bow tubes. The davit system is completely rigid as it should be.
I realize that this explanation is a bit complicated, but the design of the dinghy tie-up is complicated itself although it looks simple.
